Visa says over a million terminals in India can accept contactless cards for payments

Global payments technology major Visa on Monday said that over one million terminals in India can accept its contactless cards for 'tap and PIN' payments.

This follows the RBI notification in late April to allow contactless card transactions of above Rs 2,000 by entering one's PIN, Visa said in a release.

During the pandemic, Visa worked with acquirers and payment service providers (PSPs) to enable 'tap and PIN' transactions on terminals across the country, it said.

Consumers can now tap their contactless cards and enter their PIN to authenticate any purchase above Rs 2,000. For transactions of below Rs 2,000, payments can be made by simply tapping the card, Visa said furhter.

'Tap and PIN' payments eliminate the need for shoppers to swipe or dip their credit or debit cards at contactless-enabled point of sale (PoS) devices, allowing customers to tap and pay for most transactions.

"Contactless payments are fast becoming a preferred way to pay and get paid and are witnessing widespread adoption among merchants and consumers.

"We are happy to support our partners in enabling Tap and PIN payments at more than one million PoS terminals across the country in a matter of only a few months," Shailesh Paul, head (merchant sales and solutions) for India and South Asia, Visa, said.

Visa is witnessing a significant increase in contactless payments across the world. In Asia-Pacific, including India, 44 per cent of its transactions have been contactless in the quarter ending June 2020.

The cash conversion opportunity in India is nearly USD 1 trillion, and cash continues to dominate the way payments are made and accepted, Visa.

In line with the Government of India and the RBI's efforts to build stickiness for digital payments, 'Tap and PIN' payments are expected to play an important role in driving mass adoption in India, it said.

Visa is also in the process of rolling out the 'Tap and PIN' solution across merchants with acquirers like HDFC Bank, it added.